Dutch royals in WA to mark 400th anniversary of Dirk Hartog landing

Topics

THE Dutch King and Queen proved they are a couple of style and substance on the first day of their Perth visit to celebrate the 400th anniversary of explorer Dirk Hartog’s landing in WA.

Picture-perfect spring weather and dozens of fans, Dutch expats and schoolchildren from Perth Dutch school Language One greeted King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima outside the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle on Monday morning.

They were there to unveil the historic Dirk Hartog dish — a pewter plate and Australia’s oldest European relic carrying an inscription marking the Dutch explorer’s voyage, which is back in WA on loan from the Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.

Camera IconChildren from Language One Dutch school in Claremont meet King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.Picture: News Limited, Stewart Allen

King Willem-Alexander — the second youngest monarch in Europe at 49 — and his 45-year-old fashionista wife, a former investment banker who hails from Argentina, soaked up the sun and spent time greeting their adoring fans, many who were dressed in orange and came waving Australian and Dutch flags.

Queen Maxima, a United Nations special advocate for financial development who is renowned for her chic fashion sense, looked resplendent in a unique beige and green dress by Dutch designer Mattijs van Bergen, matching headpiece, gloves and metallic slingback stilettos.

The royal couple are in Perth as part of a two-day visit, which includes experiencing Melbourne Cup Day at Ascot on Tuesday. The King’s last visit to WA was nearly 20 years ago before he was married.

Strolling along the Fremantle harbour, the couple was given a brief local history lesson by Fremantle historian Mike Lefroy before being officially welcomed by Premier Colin Barnett and his wife, Lyn.

Camera IconWelcome to Country: King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are welcomed to WA in a traditional Nyoongar ceremony, led by Richard Walley, a leading Aboriginal performer.Picture: Supplied

Before the King and Queen unveiled the Hartog dish, Mr Barnett paid tribute to the rich historical links between WA and the Netherlands, underscored by this month’s 400th anniversary of Dirk Hartog’s landing in WA.

“The Hartog dish is the oldest relic of any European presence in Australia ... I find it 81 years later Willem de Vlamingh came along, named the Swan River where we are today, and then in a remarkable act of navigation found his way up to Shark Bay and Dirk Hartog Island to recover the Hartog dish and replaced it with his own dish,” he said.

“In between we had the extraordinary voyage and wreck of the Batavia ... a story of shipwreck, mutiny, mass murder, of executions, of escape and rescue. It is clearly the Hollywood blockbuster that is yet to be made.

“I think those early visits by Dutch traders and explorers has always formed a special bond between WA and the Netherlands and I think your presence here today exemplifies that.”

Despite the Hartog dish only be on loan to WA, Mr Barnett joked: “I expect you’ll never see it again”.

Camera IconQueen Maxima of The Netherlands is presented with a bouquet of flowers by a young girl during her visit to Perth.Picture: Supplied

King Willem-Alexander also showed off his sense of humour when Captain Cook was mentioned he responded in jest: “who’s he?”, drawing many laughs.

Queen Maxima said the special exhibition surrounding the Hartog dish would give people a “very good excuse” to visit Perth.

After the unveiling, the King and Queen were treated to a tour of the Maritime Museum and spent time admiring the Australia II vessel, with one of Australia’s America’s Cup heroes, John Longley, giving them a brief overview.

They also inspected a scale model for the New Museum for WA and when told it would be built on reclaimed swampy land, His Majesty said that was nothing new for the Netherlands, referring to the fact about one sixth of his country consists of reclaimed land.

ROYALS VIEW BATAVIA WRECK

The royal couple then ventured to the nearby Shipwrecks Galleries, the centrepiece of which is reconstructed remains of the Batavia shipwreck.

One of the first sights Dutch King Willem-Alexander encountered at Fremantle’s Shipwreck Galleries on Monday was a 19-year-old picture of himself.

The King was a 30-year-old prince in the photo, which captures him diving among the wreckage of the Dutch ship Batavia off WA’s coast in 1997.

The King and Queen Maxima looked delighted to see the photo as they were shown the actual stern of the Batavia, which was wrecked off the southern WA coast when it hit a reef in 1629.

The royal couple also met with the man who took the underwater photo of the then prince, Patrick Baker.

“I remember he was quiet back then ... he swum the whole length of the Batavia site,” he said.

The story of the Batavia is a great but horrific one that involved a mutiny, mass murder and rape. The wreckage wasn’t discovered until 1973.

Maritime archaeologist Professor Michael McCarthy explained that a film about the event – which he called one of the greatest maritime stories of all time – might be made, with Russell Crowe buying the rights to it.

ROYAL WELCOME FOR KING AND QUEEN

Outside the museum, cheers, applause and shouts of “I love you Max” rang out as the couple mingled with the waiting crowd. The Queen accepted a bouquet of flowers from a young girl.

Perth woman Renae Grljusich-Poolman, who was with two friends outside the museum with flowers, homemade Dutch flags and a “We Love Max” sign, said she couldn’t wait to see Queen Maxima in the flesh for the first time as she was a huge fan of the style icon, both for her humanitarian work as well as her fashion choices.

A thrilled Ms Grljusich-Poolman eventually met her idol when the Royal couple left the Maritime Museum after their hour-and-a-half visit, and admitted she was “lost for words” after shaking hands with the Queen.

“We spoke about women’s rights and women empowerment and she said ‘go women’,” she said.

“They spent a significant amount of time with the people in the crowd and I thought that was fabulous.

“They’re a power couple, Max in particular does a lot for women’s rights.”

Dutchman Peter Dejonge, who was in Perth on holidays, said: “This is the first time I have ever seen them, I have never seen them at home and I am a republican but it is good fun.”

Todd Kaya and Veronica Mars, who are from the Netherlands but have lived in Perth nearly a decade, said there had been a bit of secrecy about the Royals’ itinerary but a Facebook page for Dutch expats in Perth had kept them informed.

“It is great fun seeing a King and queen, how exciting,” Ms Mars said.

Ionica Lub, school director of Language One, a school for Dutch children in Claremont, said the opportunity for the students to greet the royals was priceless.

“This is very special, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for the kids, the King and Queen asked them if they could still speak their mother tongue and they all said ‘yes’,” she said.

Perth woman Willemina Curtis, who moved to WA from the Netherlands in 1953, said she had seen the Royal family on visits back to her homeland, but it was special to see the King and Queen on WA soil.

A big contingent of Dutch media have travelled to Australia for the Royal tour, covering the King and Queen’s every move.